Palompon


', officially the ', is a of the Philippines| in the province of,. According to the, it has a population of people.

Geography

The terrain of Palompon, which is generally sloping, limits the agricultural potential of the municipality. The dominant soil type is suited mainly for marginal upland crops, such as bananas, coconuts, and sweet potatoes. The destruction of the forest and critical watershed an area contribute to ongoing soil erosion and poses a major threat to the water supply of the town and its barangays.

Barangays

Palompon is politically subdivided into 50 barangays,
10 of which are poblacion barangays with an area of approximately 1 square kilometer; the other forty 40 barangays are distributed along the coastline and in the interior rural and mountainous areas.

Climate

History

Along the strip of fertile coast, the community was founded circa 1620 and originally named Hinablayan. Fish, sea shells and other marine products abounded. People fished along the shore with arrows tied to vines. Its abundance attracted not only migrants but also Moro raiders from the south. Legend tells that local defenders used to hang the dead bodies of Moros on tree branches, so that the place come to be known as Hinablayan.
The legend continues that when the Spaniards came they saw floating at the bay a cluster of mangrove propagules locally known as "Tungki", they decided to change the name of Hinablayan to Paungpung, after the cluster of mangrove propagules to erase the bloody memory of the Moro raiders. Gradually the name evolved to Palompong, then to Palumpun, and its current spelling of Palompon sometime in 1700 or 1800. It is said that cluster later got stuck to the shoal until they grew up as trees, forming an islet which is Tabuk Island today.
In 1737, Jesuit missionaries arrived and built the first chapel which was later burned during a Moro raid. It was rebuilt and, as a refuge from attack, the chapel was enclosed with piled stones, with a "cota" along the frontage. When the people saw Moro vintas coming, the big church bell would ring the alarm and people rushed inside the church, fighting back with bows and arrows and spears.
The place assumed the role of cabeceria of all the municipalities in the north-western side of Leyte during the Spanish regime. At that time Palompon was under the parish of Hilongos. The parish priest visited the place occasionally for marriage, baptism and masses.
The Jesuits, later succeeded by the Augustinians, built the present church with 300 natives, who were forced labor without pay. If one or some of the laborers were unable to work, they were substituted by others just to maintain the quota every day for the next thirty years. The structure soon became a landmark of Palompon, reputed to be the oldest church in Leyte. On November 12, 1784, Palompon obtained its parochial independence from Hilongos.
Sometime in late 17th century, there was a nine-day battle between the Palomponganons and Moro raiders during which the residents rushed to the stone church and took refuge for more than a week. The Moros suffered losses in that encounter and were defeated. A cannon in the town's plaza is a relic of that battle.
Ormoc remained part of Palompon parish from 1784 until 1851, when finally it was declared as an independent parish. Villaba and Matag-ob were both part of the territorial jurisdiction of this town as well before they obtained their municipio status.
In 1957 the barrios of Santo Rosario, Santa Rosa, Balagtas, San Vicente and Mabini were separated from the municipality of Palompon and constituted into Matag-ob.

Demographics

In the, the population of Palompon, Leyte, was people, with a density of.
Palompon has a very young population with 43.5% total population are less than 20 years old. The population is equally balanced between females and males.
Palompon is composed of 50 barangays, 10 of which is located in the poblacion while the remaining 40 are located along the coastal and interior parts of the municipality. Some 26% of the population resides in the poblacion barangays while the remaining 74% are found in rural areas. Palompon is densely populated, with 3.92 persons per hectare. This is much higher than the population density of Region VIII, which is 1.56 persons per hectare. However, population density is not evenly distributed among the barangays. The poblacion barangays are the most densely populated while the hinterland barangays are the most sparsely-populated. Palompon had a literacy rate of 91.30% as per 1990 census. The municipality has as extensive educational system consisting of 45 elementary schools, 7 high schools and one state college, which is a well-known and respected institution in the province. The population growth rate has been relatively slow, averaging less than 1.4% annually during the period 1980-91, although this increased to 2.12% from 1991-95. The average percentage of deaths over births is 26.15 per 1,000, which is approximately one death rate and relatively slow increase in population, there appears to be a net out-migration of residents from Palompon. This is consistent with the overall trend of out-migration in Region VIII. One form of out-migration occurs when Palomponganons leave their hometown for Cebu, Manila or abroad where they can find well-paying jobs. The lack of well-paying job opportunities in Palompon encourage many skilled people to leave the town. The education programs offered by the PIT, which focus on marine transportation and engineering, are also in favor of this trend. A second form of out-migration occurs within Palompon itself where residents from the hinterland barangays migrate to the poblacion barangays. Many of these migrants join the rank of subsistence fisher folk while others become tricycle drivers. The in-migration of these upland dwellers has given rise to slum communities, particularly in the poblacion barangays of Ipil—I, Ipil-II and Lili-on.
The crime rate in Palompon is very low compared to other towns in the Province and, so far, most are not considered serious. However, police officials expressed concerns that criminality may be on the rise because of the progress being experienced by the town, which is attracting an increasing number of in-migrants to Palompon. About 54% of the total population of Palompon belongs to the labor force, totaling 27,376 individuals. Of these, 13,963 are males while 13,413 are females. Only about 1,390 workers are employed in the so-called formal sector, which includes the schools, local government unit, national government agencies, the Pheschem Industrials Corporation and the market vendors. The remaining 95% of the labor force are employed in agriculture, fishing and the growing service sector within the poblacion of the town. Some 15,096 residents of Palompon have been identified as living below the poverty line. The poverty line in Palompon has been set at a monthly income of ₱ 2,699.00 for a family with six members.

Language

Cebuano is widely spoken in Palompon but you may hear a few who speak Waray-waray as there are students coming from different towns/cities from the eastern part of the region that are native Waray-waray speakers.

Economy

In general, the growth and development of agriculture and the rural sector in the province of Leyte and including Palompon, has been hampered by the following problems: 1) poor and inadequate infrastructure; 2) limited access to land, production inputs, credits and other resources among small agricultural producers; 3) inadequate post-harvest facilities; 4) inadequate government support; and 5) lack of irrigation facilities. Palompon has substantial food consumption requirements in cereals, meat, eggs, milk and products, fish, sugar, vegetables, root crops and others. Despite the LGU's plans to stimulate agricultural production to meet the above demand, Palompon must import many of the above commodities in near future. Palompon is mainly a coconut-producing area with 1,640 hectares devoted to coconut cultivation. In contrast, rice is grown on only 794 hectares. The irrigated farms average about 3.5 metric tons per hectare per crop while the rained lowland and upland areas produce 2.5 metric tons, respectively per hectare per crop. Corn production who reside in the Palompon farmlands are owned by small landowners are reportedly teachers who have invested their life savings are considered last priority for re-distribution under CARL and it is likely that many of these may eventually be exempted because of the current retention limits.

Fishing industry

The fish sanctuary project of the LGU has contributed greatly to maintaining the level of fish supply in the area. Fisher-folk constitute a major segment of the population in the 18 barangays of Palompon that have access to the sea. According to DA data, some 26% of the population in these 18 barangays are fisher-folk. However, this estimate of fisher-folk population includes only those with bancas and do not include fisher-folk who rent boats or hire themselves out as laborers to fisher-folk-boat owners. Of these fisher-folk who own boats, 25% have motorized bancas while 75% rely on manual paddling. Because of their ability to venture out into the sea, fisher-folk with motorized bancas earn ten times as much as their colleagues with non-motorized bancas. Marketing of fish in Palompon is organized around middlemen the basic commodities are priced at 10% higher than acquisition costs; and 2) the fish catch is priced lower by about 10–15% of the prevailing market price.

Commerce and trade

With the completion of ongoing port improvement and road construction efforts, Palompon will be in a strong position to enhance its role as the center of commerce and trade for the north-western towns of Isabel, Kananga, Matag-ob, Villaba, Tabango and San Isidro. Despite the absence of these improvements, the cargo handled at the Palompon port has already posted a significant rise from 27,891.043 metric tons in 1993 to 47,474.724 metric tons in 1995. At the same time, Palompon, already ranked second in 1991 passenger traffic among four ports which include Maasin, Ormoc and San Jose, Samar.
The existing market in the center of the poblacion, which is considered large for a town with the size of palompon, is testimony to the role of the municipality as a trading center for the north-western municipality of Leyte. A new and better planned public market may be required, however, once the port become fully operational. The existence of a large number of commercial establishments in Palompon including sari-sari stores, shipping companies, special services is further testimony to the role of the municipality as a center of commerce and trade. There are a number of flourishing labor-intensive industries within Palompon with the potential for expansion. Two of the more promising industries are 1) preparation of “boneless dried danggit” in the barangays Buenavista, Plaridel and Cantuhaon, 2) mat-weaving in barangays Plaridel, Cruz, Duljugan, Cantuhaon, Tinabilan,
Himarco, Sabang and Lomonon

Attractions

The original Palompon town has several historical sites and heritage to reckon with that can be equated with the interesting saga and unflinching struggle of the ancient Palomponganons in making a virtual place in the annals of the history and etched a proverbial deck in the sun. The bravery and undaunted valiant stanch against all odds of our forefathers to vanquish foreign invaders way back the "Moro Marauders" in the ancient times down to their collective participation to repeal the controversial atrocities of Spaniards, Americans, Japanese in the land had echoed to other municipalities in the Leyte Island. The historic places and sites of the ancient Palompon are still there for everyone to give a nostalgic focus. But due to the ramification of its former barangays to town-hood and even city-hood where geographical subdivisions followed and were made appurtenant, the present Palompon map has been trimmed down of some of its interesting locations that bespeak the rich and formidable historical accounts of the Palomponganons through the years. But in spite of the development process, still, Palompon is replete with historical sites and heritage that herald and relate to the present genre the town's glorious past. One of them is the Palompon Liberty Park. A full account on how this historical icon and location came to follow in the succeeding pages of this article. It was authored by a centenarian, Salud Esmero Reposar at 103 years old, who left the PLP legacy to us before she went home back to the Lord.
Palomponganons are incontrovertibly religious people. This inheritance and burning passion for the religious life can be traced back in the olden times. The fact, that Palompon is one of the early few towns of ancient Leyte where the first mass of Christendom in the Philippines was held.
The townspeople are predominantly Roman Catholics. There are at present 14 religious sects shepherding their respective pious faithful in town. Thus, with the given number multifarious religious sites and various displays are expected and worth for everyone's valued time.
The Roman Catholic Church of Palompon which was built for 44 years and thereafter was formally founded on November 12, 1784, is considered the oldest church in Leyte. Hence, a blown up feature on it is highlighted on the succeeding pages for everyone's information, guidance, and a boon to religious fervor.

Education

Palompon has 2 tertiary institutions:
It also has 12 secondary institutions:

Public